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Vehicle Touchscreen Shelf Study 2017-01-1378

Researchers report an estimated 35.7 million of vehicles with touchscreens will be sold in 2019 worldwide [1]. As the use of touchscreens grows in the automotive industry, there is a need to study how driver’s arm and hand moves to access the touchscreen as well as how the driver utilizes the hardware around the touchscreen. In order to aid drivers while using the touchscreen and to minimize distractions, the drivers’ hand must be able to freely move to perform a task on the touchscreen without the trim interfering with the task. At the same time some trim may be used to support the hand and fingers while accessing the touchscreen particularly during tasks that take a longer period of time to complete. A study was performed to understand the effect of the size and the angle of a shelf placed under a touchscreen. Motion capture (Mocap) data of the hand of subjects performing two different tasks on the touchscreen was collected in the Human Occupant Package Simulator (HOPS). The HOPS was set as a medium-sized vehicle. One group of subjects was asked to practice the tasks outside of the mockup prior to the test, while another group of subjects did not practice prior to the test. Subjective responses to questions about usage and discomfort were recorded. Subjects’ objective and subjective feedback was analyzed. This paper documents the methods used to test the use of different shelf configurations. Analysis of objective and subjective feedback is presented and design recommendations are discussed.